Researchers have discovered happiness is not solely dependent upon oneself, but is partly dependent on who we surround ourselves with. Hanging around with happy people as well as having a larger social connection is associated with being happier. It appears that happiness rubs off on others you're around and the more happy people you're around, the more likely you are to be happy and the happier you are. Researchers even went as far as to quantify happiness. According to their statistics, each happy person you have social contact with increases the odds of being happy by 15 percent. On the other hand, for each unhappy person you have social contact with your odds of being happy are reduced by 6 percent. Since happiness is associated with reduced mortality, reduced pain and improved cardiac function, it seems important to surround yourself with happy people!